Joe Swanson
Story This paraplegic cop is the fourth member of the group of buddies (along with Peter, Cleveland, and Quagmire) who lives on Spooner Street. He met Peter when, after just moving into Quahog, the Happy-Go-Lucky Toy Factory needed a final member for their company baseball team. Peter knew that Joe had won many awards for playing baseball in the past; he did not know that Joe was paralyzed below the waist. However, as he does most of the time, Joe proved that this wasn't enough to stop him and he led the team to victory. He lives at 33 Spooner Street with his wife, Bonnie and newborn daughter Susie. Joe received his paralyzing injury one year at Christmas time. He was investigating a robbery at an orphanage (the perp turned out to be The Grinch) and slid off the roof on a roller skate, injuring his spine and leaving him unable to walk. He regained movement of his legs for a brief time, but his son, Kevin, accidentally ran into him, re-paralyzing him. In another episode, "Believe It or Not, Joe's Walking on Air," he can walk again again. However, everyone starts losing faith in Joe, and he paralyzes himself. However, his handicap (though he wouldn't call it that) doesn't prevent him from serving on the police force or choreographing local musicals. Joe seems to have severe anger issues wich often manifest in explosivly violent outburst at random times throughout the show. A few notable examples of this are beating his son Kevin in a blind rage to the point Kevin had to live with a foster family, and shooting the left overs of his 16oz steak (then turning the gun on his friends) after being mocked for not being able to finish it. These outburst seem to stem from Joe's inability to cope with being hanicaped and being mocked with the situations that stem from being so. Joe is arguably the best hand to hand fighter in the entire show. Despite his condition, it has been seen on numerious occassions that he is able to completely overwhelm other characters who are acomplished fighters in their own right such as Lois Griffin (A Black Belt) and Peter (known for large violent battles with Ernie The Giant Chicken). Joe has also shown the ability to easily take on multiple enemies at once such as his encounter a large number of armed midgets in The Thin White Line and Peter, Quagmire, and Cleveland in Believe it or Not, Joe's Walking on Air. He is the only person on Spooner Street who actually pays for his cable. Relatives *Bonnie Swanson (wife) *Kevin Swanson (son) deceased *Susie Swanson (daughter) in episode [[Ocean's Three and a Half]] Trivia *Joe was paralyzed on Christmas Eve attempting to save gifts from being stolen by a character resembling the Grinch. **He actually used his legs to kick a kid/midget in The Thin White Line. However, it is possible he swung his wheelchair so the legs hit the midgets. **His legs moved involuntarily in The Juice Is Loose during the pillowfight scene. **Joe forms the head of the Voltron-like Crippletron. **In the episode Love Thy Trophy, he briefly stands unassisted, though this may have just been a one-off joke. *Joe is one of the few (and most famous) cartoon paraplegics. Swanson, Joe